Catching our breath

It seems like life has been flying by this summer and we've been trying to catch our breath before we transition to school in less than 2 weeks. Here are a few shots of the gang having fun.

In honor of the olympics, we had stir fry complete with chopsticks. The kids loved playing around to master their tools and Goose actually did pretty good.

The two handed chopstick user.

OK, I opted this photo taken tonight over the chopsticks as Boo is so happy to be holding the chick, Lucky. They've grown enough they are harder to catch, harder to hold and can fly away.

As usual, Jaybird has his own ideas about chopsticks.

This is what has occupied a whole week of my time. The neighbors were out of town and we took care of their animals for 2 weeks and I was given free reign over their garden (I didn't have one this year). I just couldn't let that food go to waste so I got a crash course in canning. This is most, but not all of it (I have to hide the salsa from my man or he'll drink a quart a day!)

Yep, they're still my crazy crew.

Spiderman's First "Gotcha Day"

Above: 8/12/07 meeting in Ethiopia and Daddy teaching high fives.
Below: 8/12/08 with his "gotcha" gift we bought while in Ethiopia. (If you can't tell it's a painted drum) He picked lasagna and zucchini bread for dinner tonight and had Ethiopian food for lunch. What a fun thing to celebrate as a family.

Well, hard to believe but it's been a full year since we met Spiderman for the first time ever. I'll never forget that morning or our meeting. I had prayed countless prayers that it would go well and he would be comfortable with us (and that I wouldn't cry). I had even covered his kids and grandkids in prayer. Just recently he told me that he was scared to walk in the room to meet us and thought his heart would explode. You would have never known it. He walked right in and came up for a hug. The rest is history.

So much has happened this past year. It's been filled with many "first time" moments and memories of us becoming a family. We were just asked today what kinds of struggles and adjustments have been the hardest. My man actually said, "we were prepared for the worst but it has been shockingly smooth." We still have food issues but I'm reminded of friends with biological children who have those as well. We are so thankful that the kids all get along and are good friends. Spiderman told me just this past week that "Ethiopia was boring" and that he loves having a brother and 2 sisters because "there really wasn't anyone to play with". I know there were other kids living nearby but what I see is that he has learned to appreciate that a brother or sister is ALWAYS there for you (even if sometimes to fight with).

What amazes me is that I had prepared myself for the first year to be all about adjusting and forging the bonds of family. I anticipated this to be a difficult and taxing year. God must have laughed as he saw me preparing for disaster as He had something else in mind. Spiderman came to us ready to move ahead and with a joyful and resilient spirit. It has been a year characterized more by joy than with difficulty. Oh sure, there have been moments of frustration and irritation with this new little guy in our home but if I'm honest with myself, it almost always has to do with my own selfishness. I can see how he has missed out on 7 years of "my programming" and has had to learn what to expect from me. :) I am too often reminded that I am not a perfect mom and I am motivated by what makes things easier on me. As I relax and look at who he is (and really all my children for that matter) I can enjoy him for the sweet, imaginative, funny, confident, helpful and obedient little guy that he is. In fact today he has been inventing a submarine out of parts of old electronic toys he has "screwdrivered" into pieces, taping their little computer brains together. He's already making plans for a time machine and a jet pack. :)

Praise God for bringing Spiderman to us!

just a few more photos

Here are a couple of the girls playing a traditional Ethiopian game with pebbles. It's most closely related to Jacks I guess but they make it look more fun.

Here is Jen's son and Spiderman. Pretty much all my kids had him on a pedestal all weekend and my daughter paid TOO much attention to him!

Some of the girls catching up at the pool. That was a fun intermission to our organized times.

Hannah's Hope Reunion

What fun we had Saturday at our first reunion of the older kids at HH Ethiopia. The morning was filled with meeting each other and taking lots of photos, followed by a big water fight and games. We finally broke for lunch, followed by a wet afternoon at the local water park. We took a short break and then returned for an evening filled with food, fun and of course fellowship. Many new friendships were made and old ones rekindled. It was a priceless opportunity and I tried to share some shots below (I have SO MANY photos it's hard to choose - Thanks Roger!) Just an FYI: the parents are in red, the siblings in green and the HH Ethiopia kids are in yellow. Our attempt at the Ethiopian flag.

I thought you'd be able to see these faces better on my blog but... well I'll tell you which families came. The Rye, Schneider, Murphy, Morby, Eastin, Riggs, Garrison, Smith and McCarty families are pictured here. Some travelled from as far away as New Hampshire, Michigan and Oklahoma - THANK YOU EVERYONE for taking the time to make this happen. There is already talk about when to do it again.

Here are the all the kids from HH. For those of you lurking who only know them by their Ethiopian names, they are: (from top left) Hiwot, Kidist, Tigist, Samrawit, Amerech, Genet. (from bottom left) Tizita, Birtukan, Getaneh, Habte, Abdu, Azmera.

In the evening we had a hair care / braiding class hosted by Michelle and Bethany (thanks ladies!) These boys were having fun playing with the hair pieces Michelle brought -- for the girls!

Some of MANY giggles shared on Saturday. Tigist, Sky Amerech, and Samrawit.

The kids loved this game of water balloon volleyball (Thanks Don!) which was preceeded by a big water fight. The kids also had fun playing soccer and basketball together.

Making some necklaces in the Ethiopian colors. (Thanks Cindy!)

The kids at the reunion looked so cute in their new shirts. They all range in age from 5 to 12 years old and made some good memories on Sat. I may post more photos another time.

Before the main event

The fun was not limited to Saturday's reunion. Thursday and Friday were days to get acquainted with new friends and old. Spiderman sprained his ankle on the trampoline Friday so he was pretty bummed to be limping around the rest of the weekend.


Friday Jen and her sister arrived from Michigan with 5 kids between them. They all hit it off well with our 4 kids and you can imagine it was a happy houseful. Here are some of the girls together before heading out for the reunion.

Spiderman has a double! The Morby's were so sweet to bring matching outfits for the boys (and the girls as you'll see below). Our Spiderman was thrilled to have his good buddy around for two whole days before the reunion. We look forward to keeping this friendship alive through the years as these boys have known each other since BEFORE they entered the orphanage together - a beautiful piece of the past.

Hope & Abby were stuck to each other like glue all weekend and it was adorable to watch them holding hands everywhere they went. It was precious to see relationships between all these kids rekindled.

Here's the good buddies again after some slip & slide time. As wonderful as it was for them to be reunited, the tears and emotion flowed heavily after everyone said goodbye. It's hard to watch him hurt like this but I know it is a necessary part in grieving the losses he has suffered.

In awe of God's creation

We have had so much fun this past week watching one of God's little miracles. Our "broody" hen has been sitting on her eggs (and those she stole from other hens) and we are busy watching these 4 baby chicks that hatched. Goose's face says it all, this is cool!

Boo got to "chick-sit" these 2 newborns on their birthday. We thought that we only had 2 chicks and we were happy with that. We couldn't bear to throw the other eggs out right away and 5 days later - these two showed up! The black one was named Lucky (as twice I almost threw out the unhatched eggs as "hopeless" and then later put them back) and it's VERY lucky to be alive. Later that day #4 showed up and someone named it Cinnamon, though I don't believe it will still be brown when it is grown. :)

Spiderman is so sweet with these little things. He has created a "chick playground" out of boards, buckets and an old tire. When he captures a chick, he escorts it to the playground and supervises to make sure it stays safe.

These little fuzz balls are hard to put down. It takes something pretty cool to get Jaybird this excited about something "non-Lego".

OK, I have to put in a picture of the proud momma, "broody Lily" as we call her. She is quite tempermental but in her defense, she's just protecting her babies. These two chicks are named Sparkle and Midnight and they are about a week old. The kids are praying that all 4 chicks are hens as we don't intend to keep any roosters. :)

Delayed Gratification

Well, it took over 3 weeks and 3 attempts to get a trampoline but we finally did this past week. The kids were so excited to put it together, that 3 of 4 helped out in their PJ's one morning. I think the instructions said it was a 2 person job so I had plenty of help with my 4 little people.


Amazingly, it only took a couple of hours til they could bounce on it and we did it all while my man was at work. He was impressed (and maybe relieved) to see he had a clear evening that night.

Now I'll admit that it wasn't until the next night that we finished putting up the net (they didn't break their necks Grandma!) Originally we were going to skip the net as it wasn't in our yard sale profits "budget" but Grandma got wind of that and she and Great-Grandma insisted that they buy the net for us. THANKS!

See all these happy faces? This has been a wonderful purchase. The kids get outside more (even if they bring their Legos with them), get plenty of exercise and get more practice at taking turns. :) My man is just waiting for the first ER bill.
OK, the kids call this "popcorn" as one jumps and tries to bounce the others enough to make them let go of their legs.